Reaching the Golden Gates

Dreamchild are certainly an interesting band, and they make no attempt to disguise their influences. DC play progressive power metal, and they draw heavily on two giants, namely Blind Guardian and Dream Theater. This is most apparent in the vocal delivery, as Gerard Fois really does a nice job blending the two styles of Hansi Kursch and James LaBrie. Outside of this, the bass playing(which is quite audible) and guitar work is very tight, but the same is not true for the drums. But, alas, I’m getting ahead of myself.

The guitar work draws a lot on the Blind Guardian style of the never ending guitar solo, as many of the riffs are simply melody lines played on the guitar with very little chord structure, making for a very melodic and engaging experience. The chugging draws on the basic speed metal template used by BG in their earlier days so there are similarities there two. The riffs are not always the focal point of a song, such as on cuts like Crystal Lady and To Our Dreams, but they dominate other songs like Bells of Nemesis and Shade on Your Sun.

The solos are present in most songs, but are not very long, and yet they are quality despite their woeful length. Instead, most creative energy is poured into developing and frequently using guitar leads. They are well written and nicely break up a song, but they are somewhat lacking. The pieces just contain less energy with melodic solos in place of shredding solos. That goes for the whole album; it feels to relaxing; too melodic if you will. Sometimes this is nice, but I have fallen asleep listening to this album on at least 3 different occasions. But I mean that in a good way. Sort of.

As a result of this the songwriting suffers a little. The guitar leads become too familiar, and after 3 or 4 listens, you can break a song down very easily into verse, pre-pre-chorus, pre-chorus, and chorus. The intros and outros are generally boring, with an introduction of a riff and the rest of the band joining in seconds later and abruptly ending at the end, something that totally kills the epic Bells of Nemesis during its final moments. As a progressive power metal band, it is expected that DC should be able to come up with more mature songwriting, but it kind of flounders around.

That being said, a few songs break this mold. Crystal Lady features beautiful keyboards with wonderful and majestic acoustic breaks, Acalmy lays down one of the most solid bass lines and guitar leads that is hard not to move to, and Kadesh Battle, the only other instrumental on this sophomore release, is a beast of its own. It is essentially an exercise in rhythm, and it really sets istelf apart from the rest of the album. The drums dominate with military snares and off beat double bass patterns. The guitar and bass work slows down and delivers pounding rhythm based riffage that makes it one of the most memorable tracks with its military base and radically different guitar leads.

The drums generally suffer on this album, much more present for the pretense of necessity than really adding something. Generally he keeps up, but at times Alani Blanc struggles to maintain a solid beat. He tries some more progressive drumming patterns, but it feels like he couldn’t quite make it and had to tone it down. The production, which is solid for the rest of the band, seems to be a bit off for the drums. The double bass pedal is a tad too dull, and it feels like there is simply no meet on the bones. Other parts of the drum set also seem too tinny and aren’t loud enough in the mix. Unlike the bass. For once, the drumming is definitely the weaker part of the rhythm section here.

The bass playing is phenomenal, and acts as the driving force in more than one song. Sylvain Cochet does not rewrite the book on technicality and makes no attempt to show off. He simply delivers one solid bass line after another. He drives some of the less guitar heavy tracks like To Our Dreams, Acalmy, and Fly Again, and he and guitarist Dominique Leurquin basically battle it out on Alchemy. The last song mentioned is quite interesting in the back and forth between the two axe men with Blanc and Fois essentially hanging on for the ride. This is one of the things that sets Dreamchild apart from the common rabble of the 90’s power metal flood.

As much as I have knocked on DC for their somewhat lacking songwriting, the songs themselves hold a great deal of value to an ear that simply listens for pleasure and does not pick apart them to the point of ruining a song. Cuts like The Search and Crystal Lady do a great job of allowing the listener to lose themselves in dedicated vocals and soaring guitar leads and transport them somewhere else. And then there are tracks like Shade on Your Sun and Bells of Nemesis that place you on the precipice of war, albeit a tad lacking in energy to do so. What I’m saying is to not downplay the face value of this album.

The vocals are another awesome part of the band. Gerard Fois has a solid range, but he is capable of doing much more. While most of the time he does mostly a satisfactory job, there are other times where he blows you away. He is capable of James LaBrie style wails, showing them off in a burst of controlled insanity that is disturbing on The Search. Then at other times, his voice is mournful and brings me to the point of tears on Crystal Lady and almost to that point on Fly Again. Fly Again is the one ballad on the album, and Fois does a great job and essentially carries the song by himself with other instruments simply adding a touch of atmosphere. He does a solid job of creating vocal hooks that help define and give purpose to other songs as well.

However, there are some drawbacks to him. For the majority of songs, he does very little of note, neither taking away from or adding to songs. Fois’ voice also takes a little getting used to; it was not until my fifth or sixth listen that I truly appreciated it. Indeed this carries over into other parts, such as the chorus of Shade On Your Sun and most of To Our Dreams where he just sounds bad. These parts are just not well put together and show a facet of his voice that his unpleasant sounding. Not unpleasant in a truly evil and brutal way; just really out of place and poor. Unfortunately, another strike is against him when there is the realization that the two instrumental tracks are some of the best on Reaching the Golden Gates.

As usual, here comes the part where I gush out my fanboy love for one truly great song on an album. Today’s selection is Crystal Lady. This song starts of with a catchy keyboard tune that is both haunting and beautiful. Fois starts of with some depressing and mourning vocals amidst a small gallop from the rhythm section. The song proceeds normally, with the best vocals on the album. The sad singing pops up periodically amidst peaks of high pitched passionate delivery. The keys continue throughout the entire song to add atmosphere with a mostly background guitar work. The acoustic break is fantastic and surpasses all others on the album. Guitar leads soar all around you and then suddenly the keyboard melody calls you back to where you once were, ending the song. Epic.

Dreamchild make use of a variety of surplus instruments on this album, with Gerard Fois handling keyboard duties skillfully on Kadesh Battle, Crystal Lady, and the closing track (also the weakest on the album) Answers. Church bells add a cheesy but awe inspiring sonic effect to Bells of Nemesis. Acoustic guitar also abounds, with the best parts being on Acalmy, Fly Again, and Crystal Lady.

Indeed, Dreamchild do pose themselves as an eclectic band combing Dream Theater and Blind Guardian, but for the most part it works. There are some awkward aspects, but these are pretty minor in regard to looking at the big picture of the album. However, it can be said that the material is not the most memorable and this is not an instant classic. I would recommend this to fans of either aforementioned band, or those who enjoy power metal with a punch of progressive technicality. Be warned it is a tad hard to find, but that should be lessened by the fact it was released on Metal Blade. Best tracks (from greatest to less great but still pretty great): Crystal Lady, The Search, and Kadesh Battle.